governing all the creatures, according to their feveral natures: Acts, xvii. 25. "Seeing he giveth to all, life, and breath, and all things:" Heb. i. 3. "Upholding all things by the word of his power." The fun cannot fhine without him ; nor the earth produce its fruits, nor its fruits be ferviceable to man, without him. Whatever is profitable or pleasant in the creatures, is but fome drops of the divine goodness diftilled into them, for his glory and man's good. Hence it is evident, that the abuse done to the creatures rifeth to God himself. As if a mother having fuitably sweetened the meat to a child, he fhould, after all, throw it away, his doing so is a wrong to her as well as the abused creature. Therefore, the abufing of God's works is forbid-, den in the third commandment, under the notion of taking God's name in vain. For the creature's goodness is in effect God's goodness: "For there is none good but one, that is, God," Matth. xix. 17. And therefore (with reverence be it spoken) God groans from the creatures against finners: Amos, ii. 13. "Behold, (fays God), I am preffed under you, as a cart is preffed that is full of fheaves.” And as the I.ord from heaven cried to Saul, Acts, ix. 4. "Saul, Saul, why perfecuteft thou me ?" fo, if men had ears to hear, the drunkard, for inftance, might hear God, from the creature, faying, Man, why abuseft thou me?' &c.

Laftly, Serious Chriftians groan in behalf of the creatures. Man was made to be the mouth of the creatures, to fpeak out what they could not; for which caufe God gave him a tongue and fpeech, therefore called his glory. When fin entered, man's mouth was clofed in that refpect. When grace comes into the foul, the Lord fays, Ephphatha, that is, "be opened," Mark, vii. 3'4.

So

So man becomes the mouth of the creation again, Pfal. xix. 1. Thus believers, seeing the reason the creatures have to groan, groan out their cafe for them, acknowledging, before God and the world, the mifery and hard cafe they are brought into by man's fin.

II. WE come now to inquire, what distresses the creatures fo much, that they groan? What has man's-fin done to them, to make them groan under it?

Why, truly, they got a large share of the curfe to bear for man's fake: Gen. iii. 17. " Curfed," faid God to Adam, " is the ground for thy fake." The curfe coming upon man is alfo felt upon the earth. Wherefore, but because of its relation to man? It bears him, and feeds him. And if fo, that curse would spread to the visible heavens that cover him, and afford him light, and that nourish the earth which nourishes him. If this be not enough, remember they are all to go to the fire together at length; and furely that makes it. So thus man's fin, as brimftone, is scattered on his habitation: 2 Peter, iii. 10. " But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens fhall pass away with a great noise, and the elements fhall melt with fervent heat; the earth alfo, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up." Verse 11. "Seeing, then, all these things fhall be diffolved, what manner of perfons ought we to be, in all holy converfation and godliness?"

This curfe has fubjected the creature to vanity. It has squeezed much of the fat out of it that was put into it at the creation; and from a full ear has brought it to an empty hufk. And it is thereby also in bondage to corruption. It is made a

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ftage of fin, a fcene of mifery, and liable to deftruction as fuch. But to come to particulars.

1. The whole creation, by man's fin, has fallen far short of its beneficial and nutritive quality, in comparison of what it originally was at its creation. Man has not that benefit of the creatures for which they were appointed at firft. While he ftood, fuch fap and nourishment was in them, that could have afforded him all things for neceffity, convenience, and delight, without toil. But fin gave them fuch a fhock, that much of that fap is fhaken out of them, and fo man must now wring hard to get but a very little nourishment from them. This makes fo much barrenness in the earth, which fo meanly rewards all the toil of the husbandman. It brings forth thorns and thiftles plentifully, under the influence of that curse, while it makes a very fober increase otherwise. And what is the procuring caufe of all this but fin? Pfal. cvii. 34. "He turneth a fruitful land into barrennefs, for the wickednefs of them that dwell therein." We see how it is bound up, that the beasts of the field cannot get their food. And if the influences of the heavens were not reftrained, it would not be fo; the earth would not be iron, if the heavens were not brafs. Under this vanity the whole creation groaneth.

2. The whole creation, by man's fin, has come far fhort of its ultimate end, the honour and glory of God. God's revenue of glory from the creature is mightily diminished by the fin of man. The whole creation was made to be a book, wherein men might read the name of God; a ftringed inftrument, by which men were to praise him; a looking-glass, in which to behold his glory. But, alas! fin has drawn a veil over our eyes. Men may fay they are unlearned,

and

and cannot read more than what may make them inexcufable: "For the invifible things of God, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; fo that they are without excufe," Rom. i. 20. The book is as it were fealed. They have loft the art of praifing; hence the inftrument is hung by, being to little purpofe in the poffeffion of such persons. They care not for beholding his glory, therefore the looking-glafs is overlooked, and very little use is made of it. Under this vanity they groan

alfo.

3. The nature of the whole creation is in fome fort altered. When God looked on his creatures, he faw that they were very good, Gen. i. 31. And that is a fad alteration that makes them groan. Sin has caft the whole creation into a feverifh disorder. There is an evil which accompanies them now, that they long to be rid of. Man complains and groans under the evil of the creatures, and they complain and groan under him. The tranfgreffion of man is heavy on the earth, and the cafe of the earth bound up from his service is heavy upon him. Where is the creature that has no evil about it now? The fun fometimes fcorches man, and burns up the fruits of the ground; at other times his abfence makes the earth as iron, that he cannot stand before the cold. The air often fickens and kills him. The diftempered winds often fink him in the fea. out of the earth, where he is to get his meat, fometimes he meets with poisonous herbs. What is the cause of all this? Impute it not to the creatures as they came from the creating hand of God, but to the fall of man, whom nothing could have hurt, had he stood in his integrity.

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4. The creature has fallen into the God's enemies, and is forced to ferve the... man ftood, all the creatures were at his. were ready to come to him at his call. he left Ged, all the creatures would have the fun would have fhined no more on air would have refufed his breathing earth would not have fed nor carried if God had not fubjected them anew to hi viii. 20. “For the creature was made vanity, not willingly, but by reafon o hath subjected the fame in hope." far fome of them have gone in renou fervice to him, Job, xxxix. 7. 8. "Will the unicorn be willing to ferve bide by thy crib?" And they would their fervice, as a faithful fervant ve mafter, when he goes out in rebellio fovereign, but that they were forced and therefore they groan.

5. They are used by finners to en God never made them. They fu they are abufed, and therefore they made them for his honour, men abu difhonour. Never did a beaft fpeak laam's afs, Numb. xxii. 28. 30. and complaint on man for abufing it to which God never made it. The du ked the madness of the prophet, tha it to carry him in a way God forbad and where the angel ftood to oppofe could the creatures fpeak to us, we many complaints that way. God gav tures to be fervants to man, but man h for flaves to his lufts; and who would to be fo maltreated? There are two th make hard fervice: